Earth Science Final

Front 1

4 causes of deserts

Back 1

Geographical Isolation, Rain Shadow Deserts, Cold ocean currents, STH 30 degrees N and S

Front 2

the area has no water, so therefore it is a desert.

Back 2

Geographical Isolation

Front 3

orographic lifting of air masses.

Back 3

Rain Shadow Deserts

Front 4

costal deserts, coldwater offshore chills the air/takes away

Back 4

Cold ocean currents

Front 5

biggest desert region

Back 5

STH 30 degrees N and S

Front 6

In regions where rivers do not flow into the ocean, the outflow is through evaporation or subsurface gravitational flow.

Back 6

Internal drainage

Front 7

the fourth longest river in Africa, Namibia and Botswana are in a fight over it due to a severe drought, and the river being the main source of water for them.

Back 7

Okavango

Front 8

Is shrinking due to high use of water for crops, and is now poisonous due to the fertilizers from farmers that are in it.

Back 8

Dead Sea

Front 9

The diversion of its water for irrigation purposes has significantly dropped its water level.

Back 9

Aral sea

Front 10

It the lowest point in the US, is a good example of a basin and range configurations.

Back 10

Death Valley

Front 11

Dry stream bed on landscape, little surface vegetation, prone to flash flooding, 98% of year is dry, fills up when it rains only for a couple of days a year.

Back 11

Arroyos

Front 12

Plants that live in the desert area. Don’t need much water, able to internally conserve it with their leaf shape, length and size.

Back 12

Xerophytes

Front 13

most animals in the area are nocturnal

Back 13

Wildlife

Front 14

flat sided rocks that are made flat on the windward side due to the wind abrasion.

Back 14

Ventifacts

Front 15

very shiny surface of the rock.

Back 15

Varnish

Front 16

wind is able to pick up and remove material from the landscape.

Back 16

Deflation

Front 17

can cut through glass, will remove paint, wind

Back 17

Abrasion

Front 18

gravely, crusty layer that packs down

Back 18

Pavement

Front 19

Deflation hollows can be 25-30 ft across, 5 ft deep. Wind leaves a scooped out depression of the landscape.

Back 19

Blowouts

Front 20

slipface in the middle of dune

Back 20

Barchan

Front 21

made of silt, moves across landscape like a curtain.

Back 21

Dust storms

Front 22

wind changes direction periodically.

Back 22

Star

Front 23

long, linear, run parallel w/wind.

Back 23

Longitudinal

Front 24

waves on the surface, crest is a right angle, transverse to angle of wind. Can be 1000 feet high!

Back 24

Transverse

Front 25

base of ridge; gravel and sand structure that piles up at the base pf the ridge, water carries sediments to ridge and they form a wedge, deposited by runoff water.

Back 25

Alluvial fans

Front 26

alluvial fans merge to form this isolated peak.

Back 26

Bajada

Front 27

floor of basin, sometimes filled w/water and becomes playa lake-water is toxic b/c of mineral content

Back 27

Playa

Front 28

“island mountain”, when ridges break down to form individual peaks.

Back 28

Inselberg

Front 29

bound by cliffs around the edges, have 200ft of local relief, always has a flat top feature, covers a large span mesa – flat top feature, covers a large span mesa.

Back 29

Plateau

Front 30

last thing standing; natural arch structures, very rare (pinnacle)

Back 30

Hoodoo

Front 31

flat-top hill

Back 31

Butte

Front 32

flat-top mountain, form along edge of basin, same as plateau, but smaller.

Back 32

Mesa

Front 33

when the wave crashes down, breaks surface tension, breaker/surf zone, sends a swash.

Back 33

Breaker waves

Front 34

area offshore where breaker waves are forming.

Back 34

Surf

Front 35

landward rush of water, goes up slope of beach until it releases all energy

Back 35

Swash

Front 36

the return flow of the swash

Back 36

Backwash

Front 37

Retrogression takes place and land is eaten back by wave action.

Back 37

Emergent coast

Front 38

progradiation – deposits sand and other materials- builds on the land

Back 38

Submergent coast

Front 39

backshore and foreshore area

Back 39

Beach

Front 40

sediment deposited by the sloshing of the waves/ridge-like structures divide beaches backshore and foreshore.

Back 40

Berms

Front 41

the part of the beach that is exposed by low tides and submerged by high tides.

Back 41

Foreshore

Front 42

narrow sandbar caused by littoral drift in open water; they vary by size

Back 42

Sandspit

Front 43

small sand bars that link islands together.

Back 43

Tombolos

Front 44

Sandpit attaches to bay – then bay is called a Laguna.

Back 44

Baymouth bar

Front 45

biggest sandbar deposited by littoral drift. Not a stable environment.

Back 45

Barrier island

Front 46

large wall like structures on either side of a channel, keeps sand out of the channel.

Back 46

Jetties

Front 47

Wall-like structure built at a right angle – traps sand and can add to your property.

Back 47

Groin

Front 48

dissipates wave action, built right off the coast

Back 48

Breakwaters

Front 49

walls built onto backside of the beach to hold off storm waves.

Back 49

Sea wall

Front 50

1 high tide and 1 low tide

Back 50

Diurnal

Front 51

2 highs and 2 lows, same height

Back 51

Semidiurnal

Front 52

2 highs and 2 lows; higher caused by gravity is much higher than tide caused by centripetal force.

Back 52

Mixed

Front 53

opposite of spring, lower than normal tides

Back 53

Neap

Front 54

higher than normal tides

Back 54

Spring

Front 55

reefs on a laguna

Back 55

Barrier reef

Front 56

grow attached to a land mass.

Back 56

Fringing reef

Front 57

A ring shaped group of coral islands that are surrounded by deep ocean water and that enclose a shallow lagoon.

Back 57

Atolls

Front 58

a process by which sediments move along a beach shore. The process arises when waves approach the shore obliquely.

Back 58

Littoral drift

Front 59

The movement of sediment along a coastline caused by waves striking the coast at an oblique angle. The waves wash sediment particles up the beach at an oblique angle and the swash back to the sea carries the particles down the gradient of the beach. This produces a zig-zag path of particle movement along the beach.

Back 59

Long shore drift